Chapter 714: Hedong is gone
Bingzhou, Hedong
When the news came that Xie Zhan in Chang'an had set fire and hanged himself, Xiao Kun met Xie Fang through Pei.
"You said Brother Wei is dead?" Xie Fang couldn't believe it. It was Brother Wei who died, not Xie Zhan?
"This is his suicide note. You will know when you read it." Xiao Kun took out Xie Wei's handwriting.
Xie Fang finished reading with trembling hands, his face full of disbelief. He hadn't expected the inner workings to be so complicated! Moreover, Xie Zhan, as Wei Ge's brother and the patriarch of the Xie family, actually treated Wei Ge like this!
At the end of the letter, Xie Wei told him that if the incident really happened, he should go to Pingzhou. Because Xie Wei's fate today might not be the fate of Xie Fang in the future.
Xie Fang felt very upset. He knew that this letter was a cry of grief from Brother Wei before his death.
"Why, you all guessed that this was a conspiracy, why didn't you save Brother Wei?"
Xiao Kun didn't say anything and let him vent. As for why he didn't save Xie Wei, he believed that Xie Wei had already written the reason, and Xie Fang just couldn't accept it for the time being.
Xie Wei had indeed written in the letter: He was going to take this gamble. If he won, this handwritten letter would never reach him, Xie Fang. If he lost, he would accept the loss.
In less than half a minute, Xie Fang put the letter in his arms, wiped his eyes, and after calming down, he said, "I'll listen to Brother Wei. I'll help you!"
Xiao Kun asked him to accept his condolences, and then said, "Don't worry, just wait for my news, it shouldn't take more than two days."
Before leaving, Xiao Kun thought, now everything is ready, all we need is the east wind!
Chang'an, Imperial Palace
Xie Zhan passed away.
He had always been a think tank for the Dali court. Even if he left, the court would still have to function properly and life would still have to go on, right?
At this time, the leader of the aristocratic family who had agreed to be deeply tied to Dali came onto the stage.
Therefore, the Dali court quickly established a cabinet, whose members included Shen Wan, Sang Baiqing, Zheng Lingfeng, Wang Yun and Li Wenjue. The first two were important officials of the court, and the last three were leaders of aristocratic families.
Such a power institution can be said to have truly realized the vision of "the emperor and the literati ruling the world together."
At this time, they were discussing the bottom line of the peace talks between Dali and Pingzhou. Wang Yun and others did not agree with Pingzhou's request to cede Yanzhou to Dali.
Wang Yun said, "Your Majesty, thank you, General, for your sacrifice for the country. We in Dali have already explained to Pingzhou. If Pingzhou still refuses to stop the war, we can condemn it for the sake of justice!"
Now the emperor and the literati rule the world together. Yanzhou no longer belongs to Dali alone. It is so heartbreaking to give it away like this.
Others echoed.
"Yes, Your Majesty, Pingzhou is asking for a huge concession. What they want to cede is Yanzhou, one of the Thirteen Prefectures of Dali."
"Yes, although Yanzhou only has five counties, it is the true heartland of the Central Plains! How can we just give it to Pingzhou for free?"
"Your Majesty, there's no need to fear Pingzhou. If they want to fight, then they can continue to fight! We, Dali, will fight to the end!"
Song Mo pointed out one thing pointedly, "Before we have a way to deal with Dali's explosives, Pingzhou may not listen to Dali's appeals."
"At worst, we can use a human wall! Relocate the people to Yanzhou!"
"Your Majesty, after we've explained our situation, justice no longer matters in Pingzhou. Even if we use a human wall, the people will understand us. If Pingzhou doesn't stop fighting, the more people die, the less justified it becomes, and the more it loses the support of the people!"
"Your Majesty, we cannot be weak. If Pingzhou wants to fight, we, Dali, will accompany them. Pingzhou is a new power, and in recent years, it has been aggressively aggressive. What is its foundation? Pingzhou will certainly not be able to withstand a long-term war. If we agree to cede Yanzhou to stop the war, it will be exactly what they want."
Song Mo understood what they meant. No matter whether it was Dali, Xianbei or Pingzhou, they would not be able to withstand a long-term war.
Pingzhou suffered heavy losses in the war, but Dali and Xianbei were not in a good situation either, as they had been ravaged by Pingzhou before the war began.
It’s like Pingzhou is using their resources to fight against them. Isn’t that infuriating?
At least that was the case at the beginning. After fighting for so long, Pingzhou’s own resources should have been used later.
All three parties are constantly consuming.
The current situation is not only a competition of military strength, but also a competition of national strength.
In the words of later generations, the battle between Pingzhou and Dali and Xianbei is like a battle between hypoglycemia and hypertension, it just depends on who falls first.
Now, several aristocratic families including the Wang family of Langya and the Li family of Zhaojun have joined forces and are planning to donate generously to provide Dali with some blood, hoping to hold out a little longer and see if they can bring down Pingzhou.
For Song Mo, it is of course good that the aristocratic family is willing to spend money and effort to solve the problem.
Song Mo agreed to their proposal, and Wang Yun and others were very happy.
In addition to the war, during this period, the aristocratic families also thought of some ways to improve the economic situation of Dali, and by the way, see if they can increase the consumption of Pingzhou.
Because in Pingzhou, there is interest if you deposit money in Pingzhou Money House and Ji's Money House.
They also launched a similar business through several major banks in Dali, where deposits were paid interest, and the interest was twice as high as that in Pingzhou. The intention was to attract wealthy people in Pingzhou by raising the interest rate.
Because the aristocratic families come out to endorse it, there is an effect, because there are always people who are blinded by money.
But the actual effect was far less than what the families expected.
The noble families were puzzled at first. Was it because their interest rates were not high enough? But any higher interest rates would be almost like usury!
They didn't know why this trick was so ineffective, much worse than when Pingzhou used it first. You know, Pingzhou's interest rate was half of theirs.
After investigation, they found out the reason.
The main reason is that Dali’s previous actions made people feel too insecure.
When those small middle-class landowners wanted to leave Dali, the conditions Dali offered were too harsh. They were not allowed to sell any land, shops, or houses except for their floating assets, and were not allowed to take them away with them in exchange for silver.
Now that Dali has done this, people are worried even with the endorsement of a prominent family. It is easy to invest the money, but what if it cannot be withdrawn?
After learning the reason, the noble families were furious. Before they could make another move, Pingzhou was no pushover and immediately responded.
Pingzhou newspapers directly printed a big headline saying that they were thinking about other people's high interest rates, but other people might be thinking about their principal.
Those businessmen and wealthy people who were slightly tempted immediately gave up the idea of earning high interest.
Who had previously revealed the true nature of Dali? Besides, the returns from their investments in Pingzhou were not low, so there was no need to take such a huge risk.
These are all encounters outside of war.
…
The Xianbei were indeed an uncivilized tribe and were very good at stealing chickens.
Kill you while you are sick.
He immediately led his troops south to attack Hedong.
When the news came, Song Mo was almost pissed to death by the Xianbei.
The Xianbei are really shameless. The two sides have clearly agreed to join forces secretly, but they still take advantage of the chaos in Dali to extort money from Dali!
Before he could send anyone to warn the Xianbei, another piece of news arrived: Hedong was gone.
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